Part 2
BA11 Depart LHR 20:30 17th October Arrive SIN 17:05 18th October
Boeing 747-400 (52-J configuration)
Seat 29K (Exit Row Window)
As we had been unable to sell our house, we had rented it out and for the last 3 weeks before emigration, I had been staying with my parents in Sussex. They kindly agreed to play chauffeur and drive me to Heathrow Terminal 3. To avoid too much emotional spilling of tears, they only dropped me off at the kerb, rather than come into the terminal with me, which was probably best for everyone. I didn’t want to be a blubbing mess in front of the check-in person. The good news is they have been able to use their Amex 2-4-1 voucher and secure some J seats LHR-SYD for next May to come and see us.
I located the BA check-in desks and, thanks to the Silver card, used the Club World counter where I dropped off my bags, which were weighed in at 28 and 26kgs without a fuss, having checked in on-line previously. The lady at check-in wasn’t sure where Hobart or Tasmania actually was, but that didn’t really matter. I had been monitoring the proactively offered upgrade situation pretty much constantly and had been advised to ask at the airport, in case anything opened up last minute, but apparently it was a very full flight, which is typical of those on the “Kangaroo Route”. So I resigned myself to 12 and-a-half hours in seat 29K. There are far worse places to be.
Off I trundled to security, grateful that I was permitted to use Fast Track, again because of the shiny silver card in my wallet. I had my best ever Heathrow security experience as there was only 1 person in front of me when I arrived and I was through within a couple of minutes, including a quick wanding when (presumably) some metal in my shoes set the detector off. Perhaps it is a bit much to expect to be through security so quickly each and every time, but after some of the stories about so-called Fast Track at T5, it was very pleasant.
Next stop was the lounge. Thanks to a poster in the BA Exec Club forum, I knew the showers were out of action, so pretty much the last thing I had done before setting off to the airport, was to have a bath. The T3 lounge was fairly busy by the time I arrived, so I took a seat at one of the computers and surfed the internet, checked Flyertalk (of course) and went to find something to eat.
There was a rapidly diminishing selection of sandwiches, which was not replaced when it ran out, plus the usual salad selection and hot dishes. I selected some sandwiches, some cheese and biscuits, grabbed a sparkling water and went to stare at the computer screen for a while. After eating, I made my usual enquiry at the desk about when boarding would be called, as I like to get out before the general call to the lounge is made, so I can be in front of all the Club/First people for fast track boarding. I continued to while away the time before strolling down to the gate and positioning myself appropriately close to the doors.
When boarding was called, I was in the first 10 people on the plane after the various infants, people in wheelchairs and those travelling with them. Having been greeted by name by the smiling CSD and asked to cross over and turn right, I arrived in a practically empty World Traveller cabin and retrieved my Kindle, noise-cancelling headphones and small pillow from my hand luggage, nabbed the overhead locker space and sat down in my exit row window seat.
For those who are not familiar with Y on the 52-J BA 747, there are 2 seats in the front rows of World Traveller A/B and H/J and the third “exit row” seat is one row further back, so I did actually have a window to look out of in 29K, a wall to lean on to (try to) sleep against, unlimited legroom, plus the fact I could get up at any time I wanted and nobody needed to disturb me. In Y, it doesn’t get much better than this!
I then did my usual people-watching of those boarding the plane after me. It was a fairly typical crowd, including noisy infants in the bassinet seats at the front of World Traveller, with the one exception of the extremely well-dressed older gentleman who seemed to be right down the back of the plane. I don’t know if he generally dressed in a suit and tie for such flights, or whether he had heard that you stood a good chance of an upgrade if you were so attired. If so, it hadn’t worked and was unusual to see in my experience.
We took off about 45 minutes late as the captain explained that 2 people had “decided not to join us this evening” and their bags were being off-loaded, but soon enough we were on our way to SIN. Once the seatbelt signs were off, the crew swung into action to deliver the evening meal service, preceded by drinks from the bar. I ordered the usual gin and tonic was rewarded with two miniature bottles and one can of tonic – a most gratifying ratio. It seems to be luck of the draw as to whether one or two bottles are handed over.
Our dinner choices were chicken or beef, and I was pleased to see that the beef option was the “roast beef dinner” which I have had on a few previous occasions. For Y food, it is a very good meal, served with potatoes, veggies and tiny Yorkshire puddings. The salad and dessert were unmemorable, but certainly edible.
After dinner, I settled down to watch the IFE. As a recent purchaser of an Ipad, I had downloaded some podcasts and a movie, which I was intending to save for the lounge in SYD and intended to use what BA had provided until then. Family Guy, The Simpsons and The Spy Who Loved Me were duly viewed. I was trying to stay awake until as late as possible on the SIN leg as this had worked a treat for me on the same trip earlier in the year and I was hoping for a repeat performance. However, after taking 2 sleeping pills with about 7 hours remaining and propping myself against my pillow and the wall of the cabin and making myself as comfortable as I could, I still couldn’t sleep. This was neither expected, nor desirable and left me feeling rather frazzled by the time we landed in Singapore.
A trip to the galley for some snacks and a drink prior to the second meal service was undertaken and unfortunately I cannot recall what the second meal service actually was, but we landed in Singapore slightly late. In spite of my medicated state, I was able to engage in the run to the lounge to beat the queue for the showers game. I was able to get there quickly enough to have nobody in front of me and went straight in, washing away the remains of BA11 and changing into some fresh clothes that formed part of the contents of my hand luggage. I had another set for SYD.
Clean and relatively fresh, I got a drink and sat in the lounge, feeling tired but not particularly sleepy. The lounge in SIN could probably do with some slightly more substantial food offerings in my opinion, but there were plenty of computers to use, and sufficient reading material to stave off boredom. I checked e-mail and sent updates to various people, to let them know I was on my way. I managed to find a sofa all to myself and lay down for a while, making sure I had set an alarm on my phone just in case I did actually fall asleep. I didn’t. I was hoping that the 2nd leg of the journey would be better.